My 5-year-son and I made up this game one afternoon that we called “Storm the Castle”. We had so much fun together, as you can see in our snippet of video at the bottom. A bonus was that he was also learning problem-solving, counting, and fine motor skills with me “teaching” him. I call that a parenting win. (Yes, they do happen from time to time, thankfully.)

Want to give it a try? I bet you have everything on hand that you’ll need:

blocks = castle

plastic spoon = catapult

cotton balls (slightly wet, to make them heavier) = cannonballs

Take time to help your child build a castle with some blocks. Then, show him or her how to use the spoon like a catapult using the “cannonballs”. We took turns trying to “storm the castle” and counted who got the most cannonballs inside the castle walls.

We found it was easiest to tape the spoon to this triangular block or other object (like that booster seat above) so it had a base. It takes some practice for little hands to get the concept, but my son figured it out fairly quickly.

This simple catapult game involves problem-solving as your child determines how far the catapult needs to be from the target and how much pressure to apply when launching. He’s also using fine motor skills as he launches the “cannonballs” and is even practicing counting skills if you make it a competition to see how many cannonballs you can get into the castle. Fun, interactive games like this one are one of the best ways to teach young children!

After we launched an attack on the castle, of course my silly little guy started doing this…

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